Coming Full Circle
by Kiyosaisei Ichimaru
Summary: Twenty-Seven Years Ago- an Uchiha family adopts a newborn baby in secret. Fourteen Years Ago- Uchiha Obito dies saving his teammate Kakashi on a botched mission to the Kannabi Bridge; his body isn't recovered. Thirteen Years Ago- Obito's sensei seals the Kyuubi no Kitsune into his son, Naruto; they never find the baby. Now- the impossible happens. Time/Dimension Travel.
1. Prologue: Obito

**Summary:** Twenty-Seven Years Ago- an Uchiha family adopts a newborn baby in secret. Fourteen Years Ago- Uchiha Obito dies saving his teammate Kakashi on a botched mission to the Kannabi Bridge; his body is never recovered. Thirteen Years Ago- Obito's sensei seals the Kyuubi no Kitsune into his son, Naruto; the baby is never found. Six Months Ago- Hatake Kakashi takes on a dysfunctional Genin team. Present Day- the impossible happens.

**A/N:** …Well, this story is completely off the mark now. So incredibly completely off the mark. Completely. I'll admit that I haven't been following Naruto closely since the start of the Kage Summit Arc. (That was when I decided it was getting a little too much like a bad fanfic.) But I have always subscribed to the Tobito Theory, except when trying a new tact in this particular fic. So I am pleased to announce that now… Well, in this fic, things will be even more AU than they are currently... Especially since the way I originally had this set up, without Obito to convert, Madara would have passed from old age without any progress made and a good deal of the Manga likely wouldn't happen.

It's for that reason that Obito has traveled 'sideways' instead of backwards, then forwards. Or that is to say, he did move backwards as baby Naruto, but then as young Obito he moved instead of forward in time, sideways into a parallel to canon timeline where things are a bit different from his home universe.

As such, I am revising the chapters I have written.

**Naruto (c) Masashi Kishimoto and affiliated publishers. I do not seek in any way to profit from this work.**

* * *

**Prologue: Obito**

This was impossible.

'…_are you okay…? Rin… Kakashi…'_

Entirely impossible!

'_It's… this Sharingan… of mine.'_

"Kai!"

'_I'm already… going to die.'_

Was this really-?!

'…_but… I can become your eye...'_

"I-It can't be… Sakura, Sasuke, Naruto, come here!"

'_And from now on I will see the future.'_

"Hold on, Obito. Hold on!"

_Fade to black._

* * *

It was difficult for Obito to open his eyes. _Eye. He had given one of them to Kakashi-teme_. It was difficult for him to move. _Why shouldn't it be, when the last thing he could clearly recall was being crushed to death by boulders?_ He couldn't speak. _He had said all he could, anyway._ But… he could still hear. _He had listened the entire time… Minato-sensei had saved Kakashi and Rin for him._

Obito thought he had died. He would have gladly done so for his teammates._ Anything, so Kakashi-teme could live on. After all, Kakashi was the talented one- he was just that low-Chunin crybaby Uchiha._

But… he could tell now. He was alive. With every passing second, he was more aware. Just yesterday, he had managed to twitch a finger on his left hand. Today, he was successfully raising and lowering his left arm, and was able to slightly shift his right leg. He was breathing, and the pain was starting to spike in a shifting way that meant he was healing, instead of growing numb to it all.

But he still couldn't see anything, even though he could smell salt in the air and feel the grass under him now and the wind blowing on him…

Obito had no idea where he was, except that he wasn't rotting away in a cave under boulders while his team tried to avenge him by killing the Iwa-nin who had attacked them. Instead, he was outside and apparently very close to the water…

And he was vulnerable and weak and in so much pain-!

And he was alone. Completely alone. Alone in a way he had never been, even after his parents were killed during the war. He was alone in a way that Minato-sensei had never allowed him to be.

…He didn't even have Kakashi-teme there to insult him…

Time passed, and his memories kept him company. Obito wasn't sure for how long, but it couldn't have been long… Not with the state he was in.

And the memories began to fade as well, as his mind tried to comprehend the fact that he was alive, and not dead, and that he was alone, all alone, and it hurt so much to be alone and his body hurt and-

He would close his open, unseeing eye.

And while it was still black… he would hear things. Voices. A very, very familiar, but different, voice, requesting D-Rank missions for his team… Shouts that the owner of the familiar voice was late… The familiar voice again, requesting a C-Rank… Another familiar voice approving the request…

And then, there were the flashes of color.

But all the times he got to see again, all he saw was a rock… a rock with so many names carved on it… and he could feel his own tears, and the tears of whoever he was sharing with…

And the voice spoke to him.

'_Obito… I hope you're well... How are Kushina-nee and Minato-sensei? Sandaime-sama has given me another team. It includes Minato-sensei's son and your cousin. But going by what I saw today they probably won't be passing-'_

'_How are you, Obito? I passed my students this time. The Uchiha is a bit how I was-'_

'_More D-Ranks today, Obito. They bring back some bittersweet memories of doing D-Ranks with you and Rin… Naruto is always goofing off and Sasuke-'_

'_Today we're leaving on a C-Rank mission, so I won't be able to talk to you in a while. I'll see you when we return, Obito.'_

It reminded him. He was Obito. He was a Shinobi of Konohagakure no Sato. That voice was Kakashi-teme. But other than a few vague impressions of other people and places, that was all Obito remembered. His given name, Konoha, and Kakashi.

And then, he saw a battle instead of the stone… and he could hear whispered words leaving his lips as he spoke along with Kakashi. It was the first time he had said anything since his recovery began, and it knocked some extra awareness into him. He was still who he was, still somehow alive… But why could he only see the world sometimes, when he knew his eyes were closed?

'…_but… I can become your eye…'_

The answer flowed into him.

'_And from now on I will see the future.'_

…It was his eye… His Sharingan… Kakashi was showing him the future. He was seeing through Kakashi's eye.

Obito clung tightly to the new information. He didn't remember enough, he knew it. Only Kakashi. Konoha. The few Jutsu he had known. He needed to remember this, too.

_He had to._

"…Heh… Kakashi-teme…"

He was almost surprised to hear his own voice, cracking his eyes open again. And this time, he could see light. Nothing else, just yet… but he could see light. And that was better than the constant darkness. Now… Now he wasn't alone.

"…Hurry up… bastard…"

Obito coughed, and stubbornly forced himself to move.

"Come and find me."

* * *

A mile away, in the home of a bridge builder named Tazuna, Hatake Kakashi suddenly sat up, visible eye wide.

"…Obito?"


	2. Legacy of the Crybaby Uchiha

**Summary:** Twenty-Seven Years Ago- an Uchiha family adopts a newborn baby in secret. Fourteen Years Ago- Uchiha Obito dies saving his teammate Kakashi on a botched mission to the Kannabi Bridge; his body isn't recovered. Thirteen Years Ago- Obito's sensei seals the Kyuubi no Kitsune into his son, Naruto; they never find the baby. Now- the impossible happens.

**A/N:** This is the second revised chapter.

**Naruto (c) Masashi Kishimoto and affiliated publishers. I do not seek in any way to profit from this work.**

* * *

**Chapter One: Legacy of the Crybaby Uchiha**

It was difficult, at times, to remember when things had started. Had it begun with the birth of one Uzumaki Naruto thirteen years ago? Or had it begun twenty-seven years ago, when Uchiha Obito was found by his adoptive family? Time loops were very confusing things, although the time loop of Uchiha Obito was one of the less complicated in existence.

You see, it was necessary for Obito to die when he had, for one soul cannot exist at the same time in the same place. However, the short span of time between Obito's death and Naruto's birth had not been a suitable length of time in which true reincarnation could occur in this particular dimension. In order to fix this, the deities decided to turn what should have been a standard cycle of life, death, and rebirth into a complicated loop of time-space in the most stable form they could think of. The child who would have been Uchiha Obito in any other dimension was a stillborn, with no soul to speak of. Instead, the soul that would have belonged to Obito was saved for the birth of Uzumaki Naruto.

But, unfortunately, Obito was just as crucial to the flow of events as Naruto himself was. Because of this, the deities had to cut their losses, and decide what was more important- Kakashi becoming a caring copycat, or the bonds Naruto would have formed with the Sandaime Hokage and Umino Iruka. In the end, it was a simple enough choice- it was far more important that Kakashi turn out as was necessary than it was for Umino Iruka to have his little brother or for the Sandaime Hokage to try- and fail- to protect Uzumaki Naruto.

After all, the lives touched by Naruto up until the point he made Genin, had only really affected Naruto's experiences. On the other hand, the lives touch by Obito up until his untimely death had affected everyone in Konoha. It was far, far more important that Obito exist for those first thirteen years than it was for Naruto to exist. Luckily, this was just fine for everything involved.

Uchiha Obito died at age thirteen and ceased being a direct influence on those around him. Uzumaki Naruto became a shinobi at age thirteen and began influencing everything and everyone he met, enemy and friend alike.

And so it was decided. The correct soul would be born one Uzumaki Naruto. After the Kyuubi was properly sealed, however, the deities took the baby Jinchuriki and transported him back in time, to fulfill the role of Uchiha Obito. However, the deities were not as all-powerful as they seemed to be. While they could send Naruto back to take the place of the boy who should have been his previous life, they could not merge him with the stillborn baby or protect him from dangers once he was in the past.

All they could do was drop the baby in the path of the correct Uchiha family, and wait.

* * *

Uchiha Tsuyoshi was dying, and he knew it. But he refused to let it slow him down. He had to warn his parents to return to Konohagakure, to the main Uchiha compound… they would be far safer there, with the war starting to brew. Far, far safer.

The slowly dying Uchiha paused to cough up some blood- and that was when he heard it. The unmistakable sound of crows' wings and louder… wailing screams. The wailing screams of a baby, at that. Tsuyoshi was very close to his parent's home now, but… The wailing called to him. Now feeling quite a bit more desperate, the Uchiha adjusted his course and burst into a clearing, successfully scattering away a flock of crows-

And uncovering a blond baby, with a bloody mess in place of eyes.

"You poor child…" The dying shinobi lifted the baby into shaking arms. The crows in this part of Hi no Kuni were vicious… the baby really hadn't stood a chance, especially not abandoned. The dying Uchiha couldn't help, but… Wait. Yes he could.

He would bring the child to his parents, who had just buried a stillborn child. The clan still didn't know their second child was dead… they could raise this boy instead!

Tsuyoshi smiled, "Come, little one… I'll bring you to Okaasan and Otousama… They will protect you…"

So the young Uchiha resumed his run.

He would never know of the results of his decision.

* * *

Uchiha Obito, as his adoptive parents decided to call him after Tsuyoshi brought him home, never learned about his origins. He had no reason to think that he was anything other than a natural Uchiha. Tsuyoshi, on his death bed, had requested that his eyes become Obito's, and they had. Because of this, and a very unique cosmetic surgery, by the time Obito's adoptive parents returned to Konoha with him, Obito looked every bit an Uchiha.

They had intended to tell Obito the truth when he made Genin… but instead…

An orphaned three-year-old stood sobbing in front of the graves of his adoptive parents, completely ignoring the harsh scolding of his aunt and uncle.

It wasn't the last time Obito would receive the harsh scolding. From then on he received a scolding for everything from not activating his Sharingan, to being late, to failing early graduation. Nothing he did was good enough for his aunt and uncle- but he refused to give up.

So he was a crybaby. So he wasn't always the bravest Shinobi. He would show them! He would show all of them that he could be strong too!

…And he did.

* * *

'…_Hurry up… bastard…'_

Kakashi barely heard what he had just told his students. His mind was still stuck on the phantom voice of his dead teammate.

The phantom voice of Obito.

But… that couldn't be possible. It simply couldn't be! He had watched Obito die all those years ago, after- no. He wouldn't think about that, Obito wouldn't want him to feel guilty, right…? And as long as he never acknowledged that he felt guilt, he wasn't actually guilty. That was his story, and he was sticking with it, no matter what Minato-sensei had said about unhealthy obsessions!

But still… Even if he talked to the Memorial Stone a lot… Kakashi had certainly never heard Obito's voice speak _back_. And now, twice in a matter of days, he could have sworn he heard Obito talking to him!

First along with him while fighting Zabuza… and then again just hours ago, startling him back to the waking world.

Strange, though. When he heard Obito's voice before waking, he could have sworn he had seen foggy, misty light. Just light- nothing else. It was a little like the few vague, but remarkably sharp, memories he had of seeing through his ruined eye before Obito gave him the Sharingan…

Oh well. He would think about it more later. For now…

The silver-haired Jounin went about the process of getting up and getting dressed before leading his students out to the forest to practice tree-climbing. He was actually becoming fond of his team already, even if he had his hands full getting Sakura to take being a Kunoichi seriously and keeping Naruto out of trouble… He was worse than Obito, honestly!

Kakashi viciously attempted to cut down that thought- he refused to imply his teammate had been nothing but extra baggage, not any more. Obito had found his bravery, had made a difference… he had been a hero in a way that Kakashi knew he could never meet…

"Ano sa… Kakashi-sensei? What are we doing?"

Kakashi looked up, snapped out of his musing by the voice of his female student, "Right. Today you'll be learning to climb trees."

"Hn. We can already do that." Kakashi's male student, and Uchiha, retorted.

"Yeah –ttebayo!" Naruto added in.

Kakashi eye-smiled to keep from twitching. They never let him finish!

"Without using your hands?"

Ah… There were the disbelieving stares he had been hoping for!

"Here, let me show y-"

"…_Kakashi-teme… please… I don't know… how long I can… Find me, Kakashi…"_

Kakashi froze.

That had _not_ just been in his head.

He only needed to see his stupid, stupid students running into the bushes to realize that. Really, what were they thinking?! If it were an enemy Shinobi, he was in no state to bail the three of them out!

Kakashi groaned and followed as quickly as possible.

Only to freeze in shock barely a moment after passing through the bushes, joining his students staring in wide-eyed shock at the downed Shinobi laying in front of them. Perhaps with even more shock than his students, in fact.

He knew that Shinobi.

He would know that Shinobi anywhere.

This was… impossible!

Kakashi rushed forward, kneeling next to the prone form of the injured-nin.

This was impossible. Entirely impossible! With shaking hands, he formed a seal and released a burst of chakra, "Kai!"

Nope. The half-crushed Shinobi was still there, propped against a tree with his eyes closed, barely breathing. Was this really-?!

It was. Oh Kami-sama, it was. He was here, in front of him, barely clinging to life for who-knows-how-long-! They needed to get help, now. Screw the mission, he was going to send Pakkun for back up, and make sure a medic-nin was in the mix!

"I-It can't be… Sakura, Sasuke, Naruto, come here!" Kakashi climbed back to his feet, "Pick him up- carefully!"

While his shocked students sprang to life doing as he commanded, Kakashi hurried to summon Pakkun, leaning even more heavily on his cane.

"Whoa, Kakashi, are you sure you shou-"

"No time, Pakkun! Go to Konoha, and tell the Hokage we need back up! And make sure he sends a medic-nin too!" Kakashi barely waited for a response before turning to his students, "We're bringing him to Tazuna-san's house- now!"

His startle students hurried to move, and Kakashi followed.

"Hold on, Obito. Hold on!"

He couldn't lose his teammate again.

Not Obito. Not this time.


End file.
